Alley, already the Division 3 indoor pentathlon record holder, could also compete in three additional jumping events and possibly 4x400-meter relay for Duhawks at two-day meet in Virginia Beach in quest to capture women’s team crown

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

Photo courtesy of Emily Adlfinger

Grace Alley thrives off chaos.

Go back to the American Rivers Conference Indoor Championships for a glimpse into the self-created craziness.

The Loras College senior competed in the pentathlon – 60-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump and 800 – and then was also entered in long jump, 60 hurdles, 400-meter dash, triple jump, high jump, and 4x400 relay. That’s 11 events for those keeping track.

“This is my favorite way to compete, bouncing from one event to another, because I think it forces me to focus on the one right in front of me rather than worrying about what could go wrong,” Alley said. “(It’s) move on, and go to the next event and I tend to have some of my best performances under that kind of chaos and I thoroughly enjoy it.”

Alley won the pentathlon with 3,604 points, claimed gold in the high jump (5-7.25/1.71m) and triple jump (38-10.25/11.84m), guiding second-ranked Loras to a third straight ARC women’s team championship and earning Field MVP of the meet for her herculean efforts.

Alley, the NCAA Division 3 indoor pentathlon record holder at 3,986 points, now turns her attention to helping Loras to a national team title March 8-9 at Virginia Beach Sports Center.

Alley is entered in the pentathlon, high jump, long jump, triple jump and as a member of Loras’ 4x400-meter relay, but the focus is bringing home another team trophy. Loras claimed its last women’s indoor team title in 2022.

“If you would ask her right now, she would say. ‘I want to do all of them; I want to do high jump, long jump, triple jump, 4x4,’ (but) we’ll take a look at the schedule and make some decisions,” Loras Coach Matt Jones said. “Her willingness to do whatever it takes to help the team, she’s always been no questions asked.”

Alley started in the sport of track and field in the fifth grade, primarily running longer distances.

Moving around a lot as a kid, it wasn’t until high school in Seneca, Ill., where she made the transition to jumps and relays, having the most success in the triple jump.

Not heavily recruited out of high school, which Jones says now played in their favor, Alley came into Loras with a mindset to help the team in whatever ways needed. For background, Alley had only dabbled in the pentathlon once before joining the Duhawks’ program.

Jones explained early on in practices in the fall watching Alley, it was her overall athleticism and mindset that gave him some clear indication of her ability to possibly develop into a multi-event athlete.

“I noticed pretty quickly, as far as picking up a ball and throwing it across the gym floor, the way she was able to pick stuff up and do it pretty easily without instructions (and) the work ethic was what really stood out,” he said.

Both Alley and Jones can say with ease, it was not smooth sailing transitioning into the multis.

Alley faced a learning curve with the high jump. Her first year with the program she cleared 4-6.25 (1.38m), finding difficulties going over the 5-foot barrier.

Eventually switching to jumping off the other leg, and overall time honing the craft, she now is consistently over 5-5 and boasts a personal-best 5-8.75 (1.75m).

“The high jump was something I struggled with for a really long time, and now it is probably my favorite event to do,” Alley said. “When I show up, I don’t really have to think about it as much as I used to. And as frustrated as I used to be going to high jump practice, it’s now all fun, all time.”

Having done the hurdles in high school, Alley picked up the three-step approach faster than most, and her speed for the relays and when needed the 800, has also developed in her time within the program.

As a freshman, she finished in eighth place in the pentathlon at the ARC Indoor Championships. The 2021 outdoor season saw her break 4,000 points for the first time in the outdoor heptathlon, finishing second at the conference championships.

During the 2022 outdoor season as a sophomore, she won the ARC heptathlon title and qualified for the NCAA Division 3 Championships, where she earned All-America honors with a sixth-place finish in the heptathlon, becoming the Duhawks’ first All-American in the high jump with a runner-up finish.

After a third-place finish in the pentathlon and triple jump, along with securing fourth in the high jump at Division 3 indoor nationals last season, Alley put it all together and won her first individual national title in May, capturing the heptathlon crown with a school-record 5,278 points, currently No. 5 all-time in Division 3 history. 

“I can be honest and say when we recruited her out of high school, I did not envision her turning into the student-athlete she has become at Loras,” Jones said.

Alley said the daunting balancing act of practicing and refining each set of skills in each event is something she’s gotten used to both mentally and physically. She’s learned how to manage her schedules and listen to her body.

“When I first started it, (the multis) was a lot harder than it is now,” Alley said. “My school schedule didn’t really work well with the practices I had to go to, so I was bouncing back and forth all day, but that’s something you have to get used to and for someone first starting out in the multis it’s a lot, it takes a toll on your body. But as you get more and more used to it, your body gets used to it. Now, it’s a lot different because I kind of have the ability to pick and choose what I need to work on and when I need to work on it.”

This winter, with an extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19, Alley said the premise was coming back to Loras to have fun and enjoy the process.

She set the national record in the pentathlon Dec. 8 at the Finals Week Invitational with 3,986 points, highlighted by a 19-3.25 (5.87m) long jump. The previous record of 3,914 points was set in 2014 by Amelia Campbell of Carleton.

With the progress and development Alley has made during the past five years, the national record was something that both she and Jones had on their radar.

“When I decided to come back for my fifth year, I told Jones I want to score 4,000 points,” Alley said. “I knew that the national record was 3,914, Jones told me, ‘I’m a nerd, I know all of that track stuff, and I knew if I put my goal at 4K and came a little bit short then I would still be very successful and have a chance at breaking it.’

“When I got done with the long jump, Jones had asked me, ‘Do you want to know how fast you need to run to break the record? And I said, ‘I want to know how fast I need to run to break 4,000?’ And he had done the math and he told me and I was like, ‘I can do that, I can do that.’”

Alley ran 2:24.43, exactly one second short of what she needed to reach 4,000, but still easily surpassing Campbell’s previous all-time Division 3 standard.

“Coming exactly one second short, it was a little bittersweet,” Alley said. “But I crossed the finish line and I went to my mom and I gave my mom a hug. (And) I was still really excited.”

Jones describes Alley’s personality as “high energy.”

“She’s passionate and supportive, and a little bit of a loose cannon,” he said.

That’s been in a good way, though. At the end of the day, Alley said she loves to do it all, but with the premise of doing it for her team.

Alley said as fun as days like Dec. 8 are, and setting a Division 3 record, she finds the most joy in the spot with her teammates.

“I would do anything to give my team the chance to win a team title,” Alley said. “Even if it puts me in somewhat ideal condition for nationals, I would rather put my body on the line to win a conference title with the rest of my team than possibly save myself to win an individual title later.”

Come the NCAA Division 3 indoor finals, if you see Alley competing as many as nine times during the two-day championship meet in Virginia Beach, don’t be surprised.

“I think if you hold her back from how she wants to be, it takes away from her performance,” Jones said. “You just have to let her do what she wants to do, and I think that’s how she performs her best.”